China: The Recent Arrest of a Large Group of Human Rights Lawyers 关于：近期对大批人权律师的逮捕 | Joint Letter

Twenty-four international human rights organizations including LRWC endorsed an open letter condemning the large scale round-up and detention of human rights defenders in China. As of 19 July 2015, a total of at least 233 lawyers, law firm staff, and human rights defendershave been detained, arrested, held incommunicado, summoned, or otherwise had their freedom temporarily restricted. The letter is published in English and Chinese.

OPEN LETTER

His Excellency Mr Xi Jinping, The President
The State Council General Office
2 Fuyoujie
Xichengqu
Beijingshi 100017
People’s Republic of China

Re: The recent arrest of a large group of human rights lawyers in China

The undersigned organisations strongly condemn the recent unprecedented and seemingly well-coordinated detention of a large number of human rights lawyers in China. It followed the disappearance of Lawyer Wang Yu on 9 July 2015 and included inter alia:

searching of the offices of Fengrui Law Firm and of Xiyuanwang, a network set up to work on wrongful criminal conviction cases, in Beijing.

As of 19 July 2015, a total of at least 233 lawyers, law firm staff, and human rights defenders have been detained, arrested, held incommunicado, summoned, or otherwise had their freedom temporarily restricted.

Many of those detained were part of a group of over 100 lawyers and rights activists who signed a public statement on 9 July 2015 condemning Wang Yu’s disappearance.

Furthermore we have noted that official media reports have pro-actively portrayed a number of detained ‘suspects’ as criminals, including a recent CCTV 13 news report describing recent human rights lawyer advocacy campaigns as ‘rights-defence-style trouble-making’.

These events make it impossible to take President’s Xi Jinping’s recent claims to be promoting the rule of law seriously, as they rigorously violate many international standards, including but not limited to: the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders), and the UN Body of principles for the protection of all persons under any form of detention or imprisonment.

All these lawyers, law firm staff and human rights defenders who have been arbitrarily deprived of their liberty should be immediately released. If they are not immediately released, we urgently request that you immediately confirm the whereabouts of those currently in detention and that you ensure that they have prompt and regular access to their lawyers and family.

Furthermore we request that those arrested will be protected from any future control measures typically used against human rights lawyers in China such as: tracking and following; violent attacks; soft detention; ‘being travelled’; being asked to have ‘chats’; being placed under criminal, administrative, or judicial detention; being subjected to enforced disappearance, torture or psychiatric incarceration.

We request your urgent attention for this matter and will continue to closely monitor the fate of the lawyers concerned in the near future.

Yours sincerely,

Encl: Chinese translation of this letter

C.C: His Excellency Mr Xu CHEN
Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China in the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Willem Lodewijklaan 10
2517 JT The Hague, The Netherlands
Email: chinaemb_nl@mfa.gov.cn

C.C: His Excellency Mr. Aart Jacobi
Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Beijing
4 Liangmahe South Rd.
Chaoyang district
100600 Beijing, People’s Republic of China
Email: pek@minbuza.nl

C.C: His Excellency Ambassador Wu Hailong
Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of China to the United Nations in Geneva
11, chemin de Surville 1213 Petit-Lancy,
Geneva, Switzerland
Email: chinamission_gva@mfa.gov.cn

C.C: Ms. Mónica Pinto
Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
United Nations Office at Geneva
8-14 Avenue de la Paix 1211
Geneva 10, Switzerland
E-mail: SRindependenceJL@ohchr.org